The Stone
by lorddorito
Summary: Sarah Donnelly and Jasmine Compton are young Shadowhunters that live in the Manhattan Institute. After being attacked by several raveners, the two figure out that they have a bounty on their heads. One of their unlikely possessions makes them a target by most, but why?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Sarah awoke to the cool, summer morning breeze that was pouring in through her open bedroom window. She could hear the faint melodic chirps from the small city birds. Her long, thin arms reached up high in the cool air and her sun-kissed color legs stiffened as she stretched away a bit of her morning grogginess.

Cold air attacked her bare skin as she yanked her heavy comforter from her warm body. The cool, beige carpet nipped at the bottom of her feet. She quickly leapt from her bedside to her large wooden dresser and pulled out a few undergarments, a pair of skin-tight black jeans, and a STARWARS t-shirt. She shoved in the drawers and darted down the hallway of the Institute, trying to escape the cold.

When she found the bathroom she closed herself inside and turned on the shower. She waited until the water was hot and the bathroom window was coated with a foggy cloud of steam to strip off her clothes. When it was she slipped from her hoodie and underwear and hopped into the warm shower. She wrapped herself up in one of the plush, bleach-white towels once she was clean.

"Sass? You in there?" Jasmine, her best-friend and Nephilim sister, called politely from the hallway.

Sarah was called Sass ever since she could remember. It was one of the only things that she had that was a reminder of her parents. She didn't know how her nickname came to be, it was just always there. Besides her nickname, her mother and father gave her a witchlight stone that they said was very special before they left for their trip to Idris. The trip that they never returned from.

Sarah finished wrapping her hair up in the towel to dry before answering, "Yes, I'm drying off right now,"

"Okay, I'll be down the hall," Jasmine replied, her words were followed by the sound of her pitter-pattering footsteps.

Sass struggled to pull on her black skinny jeans over her long and scrawny feet. She stretched the neck hole of her t-shirt over her towel hat and over her lengthy torso. Sarah applied her basic face makeup and then added her "smokey-eye" look to her eyes. She slapped down the light switch as she left the bathroom. She was met by Jaz when she made it to the end of the hallway.

"You shower quick," Sass said as she began trudging down the grand staircase that led to the entry of the Institute.

"Not really, I just don't spend time putting on makeup," Jaz says as she follows her down the white marble steps.

Jaz made a good point. She didn't ever wear makeup. Her hair was always naturally beautiful and no matter what she did to mess it up, it would lay back perfectly across her shoulders and stopped at the mid of her back. Her face was always beautiful too. It didn't matter if she had acne, cuts, or even food on her face, it was still pretty. She had the type of beauty that boys dreamt of and girls envied. Jasmine of course was oblivious to it.

"Hey, I'm going into the city, would you like to accompany me?" Sass asked as she sat on the last step of the staircase and slid her feet into her black vans.

"Of course, I was going to grab some food from the kitchen. Would you like me to grab you something?" Jaz asked as she finished tying on her navy blue converse.

"Please. Peaches would be awesome," Sass said and with that Jaz disappeared down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Sass swiftly grabbed her black backpack and forest green sweatshirt that had a triforce on it from the dark colored, metal coat hanger that was drilled into the wall. She bent over and let gravity unravel her towel-hat. She hung up the towel on the hook and pulled her Legend of Zelda sweatshirt on over herself. When she stood back up, she slid the rough black straps onto each of her shoulders.

Jasmine reappeared with several, plump peaches in hand and a yellow bag of potato chips. She smiled as she unzipped Sass' backpack and gently set the fragile food inside. She zipped it back up and then snagged her brown, leather messenger-style bag and slung it over her shoulder. They both entered the rickety, old elevator. Sass pressed the down button on the panel and it jolted as it slowly began to descend. Sarah grabbed her seraph blade and stele from her bag. She slid her dagger into her waistband and her stele into her sweatshirt's front pocket. The elevator came to a painfully screeching stop and the whole thing shook as it hit ground level.

"We definitely have to get that stupid thing fixed," Sass said as she and Jaz filed out of the elevator and into the old, abandoned church.

The church was it's usual dusty, dark, and creepy self. Not a soul had sat on the pews in no less than thirty years. There was a thick layer of dust on everything. The stained glass windows were dirty and some were even broken.

"Christ, does it have to be this creepy every time we come through here?" Jaz hisses as she gazes in horror around herself.

A bird flies into the church through a hole in a window that was broken by a rock that had been plunged through it. It hopped around for a few moments, surveying the dark and dense room before it nestled into it's grassy bed nearby.

"Let's get the heck out of here," Sass said as she started for the two large wooden doors that led to the empty neighborhood of south Manhattan.

She pushed open the doors and held them for Jaz who was close behind. Cool air pushed their dark, damp hair from their foreheads and swept it onto their backs. They walked down the path from the church to the sidewalk. The church was one of the last buildings before the cul-de-sack looped back into one road and would take you out of the neighborhood.

Sarah and Jasmine made it to the subway and hopped onto the train to 3rd Street before the doors closed. They both were happy to have made it onto the train but it was crammed with people. The two were forced to stand due to lack of seats. They found a thick metal pole to hold on to before the train jolted forward. Sass pulled two peaches from her bag. She tossed one to Jaz and kept the other for herself. By the time the train stopped at 3rd Street, their hands were drenched in sticky, fruit juices.

The two leapt off the cramped car as soon as the doors opened up and jogged up the lightly colored stone steps that led to ground level. Jasmine was rushing to keep up with her long-legged friend. She panted, "Do you know what time Hodge wants us home?"

"I would assume dinner time but I could be wrong," Sass says as she takes a deep breath of the early morning city air.

-Page Break-

Hodge paced around the kitchen worriedly. He had always told the girls to be back by six o'clock but last night he told them to be home a little earlier because they were going to have company. Either they had forgotten or simply didn't care. Hodge shook the thought of his two students being careless. It just wasn't them. He came to the conclusion that they had run into an unexpected issue.

"These girls are giving me gray hair," He sighed as he plopped onto a wooden bar stool next to the one that was being occupied by the Institute's sleeping cat, Church.

Earlier, at about five-thirty, Sass and Jaz were walking down the sidewalk of Harrison Boulevard, which led to 3rd Street. They passed down an alley and a few trash cans knocked into each other and into the dumpsters and eventually ended up spilling garbage all over in the alley.

Of course, they both stopped dead in their tracks. Jasmine stared down the alley and then looked to Sarah. Sarah could see the fear that her best friend's eyes were desperately trying to hide. Sass wasn't the least bit scared. She had seen it all; werewolves, vamps, warlocks, fairies, you name it.

"Let's go check it out," Sass said as she let the straps of her backpack fall off her shoulders and her bag fell to the ground outside the alleyway.

Jaz followed Sass as she stealthily crept to the back of the alley. Sass' heart pounded in her chest so hard that she was surprised no one else had heard it thumping. Quietly she plucked her seraph blade from her waistband.

Sarah paused before the trash cans and two dumpsters. She looked back to Jasmine, her face was hardened and unreadable. Sass held up three fingers and brought them back into a fist as the seconds slipped away. She sprung to the other side of the trash canisters and large green dumpsters.

Nothing.

"Huh, I really expected there to be something…" Sass said as her arm that was wielding a blade fell limply to her side.

Everything was silent. It was as if everything in the world had paused except them. Sass looked around and saw nothing. Jasmine reached into her pocket to retrieve her seraph blade as she said, "Is it just me or did it get insanely quiet?"

A glob of acidic, green goop splatted onto Sass' left shoulder. She screamed in pain as she tried her best to get the burning slime off of herself without touching it.

"They're above us!" Jasmine shouted as she pointed to a Ravener demon that was crawling down the side of one of the apartment walls in the alley.

Three raveners jumped down from the apartment buildings and surrounded the two girls. Their bodies were coated in a thick layer of black and green acidic slime. The slime jiggled and dripped from them as they fell. One of the raveners screeched at them and taunted them with it's barbed, scorpion-like tail. The two other mimicked the first ravener. The first ravener was clearly their leader.

"Someone summoned these, Sassy," Jaz said as she pressed her back to Sass'.

Sarah's heart sank as the thought of a warlock purposely summoning demons to capture them. She pushed away the thought and let anger flow through her veins. She tightened her grip on the hilt of her seraph blade.

A ravener thrust itself at Sass. She curled into a ball and somersaulted out of the way of the ravener's dangerous acid covered body. She popped back up onto her feet and thrusted her silver blade into the mosquito-scorpion looking monster's side. She twisted the blade in it's flesh and it cried out in pain. She pulled the dagger out as it twisted away. Before it could get away she charged at it and with a devastating blow she sliced into two of the beast's legs, cutting them off cleanly. Neon green acid spewed from its wounds.

Sass turned to see Jaz dodging the stingers of the two raveners that were attacking her. She sprinted across the alley to assist her friend. One of the raveners used it's slimy leg and kicked the seraph blade from Jaz's hand and sent it skidding through the alley and into the mound of trash.

Sarah ran to aid her weaponless friend, but the other raveners swung it's body into her, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her into the brick wall of one the apartment buildings. She moaned and held her left arm close to her body. Her arm was pulsing painfully. Her breaths wavered and she felt tears swelling in her eyes, blurring the vision of her friend and the beasts. She blinked back the tears and found the courage to go back into battle even though her arm was surely broken.

She gasped for air as she struggled to stand up. Once she was up on her feet she scooped up her seraph blade from the ground. As she stood up right, her sight was invaded by darkness and she became dizzy. She fell against the brick wall, scraping her cheek on the rough material. Sass pushed off the wall and stumbled back into the battle over to Jaz to help as much as she possibly could.

A ravener slashed it's piercing needle down over it's head at Sarah. With all of her strength she swung up in the air with her dagger, slicing into the stinger's flesh. The stinger went flying through the air and acid sprayed out of what was left of the tail. Sass was showered by the acid. She screamed and fell to the ground. She curled into a ball and rocked herself as the acid scorched her body.

Jasmine turned to see Sarah accepting defeat and she knew that it was up to her. Jaz darted away from the ravener and frantically pried Sass' seraph blade from her hand to use herself.

The ravener that's tail was wounded, curled up like a spider would if you hit it with a shoe. It's legs were bent and it laid grotesquely on the warm pavement. The last ravener charged at Jaz. It was in a rage it wasn't going to stop until either it met it's fate or they did. It's spiny tail was cocked and ready to finish the fight with a single blow.

Jaz was ready to end the fight as well. She spun in one quick circle, letting the hilt of her weapon slide from her fingers. It flew graciously through the air and stopped when it embedded itself in the ugly neck of the demonic creature. It stumbled back and it's legs gave out. It made a hideous noise and then it took it's last miserable breath.

Jaz watched as it stopped breathing. She collapsed to her knees when she knew for sure it was dead. A wave of relief washed over her. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and her hands were covered in cold sweat. She felt the exhaustion seep into her bones and fuse into her muscles. Jaz looked to see Sass, quivering and silently crying. She wasn't screaming anymore but by the look of her expression, she wanted to. Jaz crawled over to Sass, scraping her knees on the rocky pavement.

"They're gone, Sassy," Jaz said as she started to pull off the sweatshirt Sarah was wearing that was soaked in painful acid and sweat.

"It hurts so bad," Sass said as she pulled her head out of her favorite sweatshirt.

"I know Sassy. If we just make it home, we can heal you," Jaz said as she pulled Sarah to her feet.

Sarah looked around for her stele but it was no where in sight. She had guessed that it was lost in the fight. She slowly made her way to the street and picked her bag up out of the front of the alley. Her cheeks felt raw because of the tears that had stained them. She pulled her arm close to her body and examined the hideous purple mark that covered it.

The two tried their hardest to rush down Harrison Boulevard to 3rd Street. They stumbled down the subway stairs and waited for the seven-twenty-five train car to arrive. When it did they crammed into it and searched desperately for a seat. They were standing by a metal pole when it started moving. Sass' vision darkened again and she slumped against the metal pole. Jasmine grabbed her and held her up as much as she could.

A man with dark hair and a bit of facial hair, ran over to assist Jasmine. He carefully lifted Sass up and carried her over to his seat. Jaz thanked him as she and Sass got off the train car. Jaz helped Sass walk all the way back to the Institute. That was one obstacle that she had passed over but her next obstacle was to deal with Hodge. She knew that he was going to be furious, especially because they were having company…

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'm sorry if you saw any typos or anything of that kind. Bare with me because this is my first fan fiction to be published! I'm excited to be starting this and I hope I can finish it. Anyway, if you liked/loved/hated this first chapter, post a review telling me why. I'm open to any suggestions and/or questions. Just let me know what I can do to improve! Aight, later dudes. I'll update soon :) -Lu**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When Sarah and Jasmine made it inside of the church, they accepted their fate as it was. It was now almost eight o'clock, about two hours later than they should've been home, and they were going to meet company looking terrible.

The stretch from the elevator to the parlor in the Institute seemed to be endless. Sass drug her feet exhaustedly and used the hallways walls and Jaz as crutches. Jasmine could hardly keep her eyes open after having to drag her friend with her back home. Sass noticed that Jaz's eyes were glossy and wet with tears; she had guessed it was from being tired, scared of the raveners or of Hodge, or a combination of all three.

Both Hodge and angry warlocks were frightening. A warlock could even have been paid or forced to summon the creatures by someone else. Sass and Jaz hadn't done anything wrong, that's what was weird. Maybe the theory of them being hunted by angry Downworlders was far fetched. Those raveners could have just been looking for their next meal or a fight. The girls had many questions but only Hodge to ask.

Jaz took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the parlor's swinging door. Sass hobbled in behind Jaz and slumped against the door frame. Two new faces were staring up at them from the white, plush sofa. Hodge was sitting in the matching arm chair, swirling a small glass of liquor around in a never ending circle. He stopped swirling the bronze liquid when he sensed their presence.

"Sass! Jaz! Are you two alright?" Hodge exclaimed as he jumped from his seat, almost spilling his brandy in the process.

"I'm fine but Sass was beat up pretty badly," Jasmine said as she helped Sarah to one of the unoccupied couches.

"What the hell happened?" Hodge said as he pulled his stele from the chest pocket on his pristine, black jacket.

He examined the burns and rashes that the acid had left on her skin and he carefully looked at her swollen forearm. Sass moaned as she lifted her head up, "We ran into some raveners," Hodge lightly pressed her head back down against the couch. He pulled back the collar on her shirt, revealing her shoulder. He began dragging the stele across her smooth skin, sketching the _iratze_ rune into her skin, leaving black char behind. She winced at the burning pain that came with the healing. Her body tensed but she sighed in relief as he finished.

Sass sat up, cradling her healing arm. She watched as the purple swelling in her arm disappeared. When the discoloration was gone and so was the pulsing pain, she fell back into the couch's pillows and stared up at the ceiling.

"Okay, now do you want to explain to me what happened?" Hodge asked as he sat on the wooden coffee table that was centered in the room. He clasped his hands together and waited patiently for Sarah to talk.

"We heard something in the alley, so naturally we went to check it out. At first there was nothing, and then those fowl creatures attacked us from above. Of course we took care of them, but didn't get away without a few minor injuries," She said slowly.

She felt like crying again. Her throat swelled and ached, making it impossible to swallow. She blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes. There was no reason to cry. It was over. An image of a person flashed in her mind. A warlock.

"They ruined my shirt," She said with a giggle as she looked at the rip on the side of her shirt. Everyone laughed and that's when Sass really noticed the two unfamiliar faces that were sitting on the couch beside her.

One of the boys had sleek, black hair that was perfectly groomed and the brightest blue eyes. From what she could see, he was tall and slim. It didn't seem like he had much of a personality; he was very quiet and reserved. His black t-shirt was ironed and his blue jeans were clean and prim. For a Shadowhunter boy, it didn't look as though he did much fighting.

Another boy sat to his left. Everything about him was somehow golden. His blonde hair seemed to match his eyes, and his tanned skin made his features stand out. Sass wanted to think that he had sunshine running in his veins instead of blood but of course that wasn't true. He was truly a gorgeous boy. He was tall and muscular. He seemed like more of the shadowhunter type. Hodge began talking, interrupting Sass' examination.

"Sass, Jaz, this is Alec and Jace Lightwood. They will be staying with us for a while. Their sister, Isabelle is already up stairs sleeping," Hodge said.

"Nice to meet you guys," Alec, the dark haired boy said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," The two replied, almost at the same exact time.

Jace, the golden boy, just smiled sheepishly and said, "Hi, I'm Jace,"

_They seem like pretty nice guys,_ Sass thought as she stood up from the couch. She stretched her sore body and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you dudes. I have a date with my video games. See you guys in the morning,"

"Same, later dudes," Jaz said as she followed Sass out of the parlor and up the stairs.

Hodge looked to the boys and said, "I trust that you two can find empty rooms upstairs?"

The boys nodded and both left the parlor. They jogged together up the stairs with their luggage and stopped at the top of the stairs, staring blankly at the empty hallway.

"Don't you dare start without me! I'll shower quick, I swear it," Sass shouted to Jaz as she left her room with a bundle of clothes in her arms. She stopped outside the bathroom door and asked, "Can I help you guys with anything?"

"Depends on what you're willing to do," Jace said with a sly smirk.

Alec elbowed Jace hard in the ribs. Hard enough that Jace shot a venomous glare at him.

"Well for starters I can help you guys get a room. Or two if you like," Sass said, leaning against the wall, smiling.

Alec and Jace looked to each other and then to Sass, "Two,"

Sass began walking down the hallway and stopped at the fifth door on the right. She said as she began walking back to the bathroom, "All these rooms should be empty, pick which one you want,"

Page Break

Sarah awoke to the television in her room playing the Mario Kart theme song. She yawned and looked to the end of the bed to see Jasmine curled in a little ball, fast asleep. A controller was laying beside her as she slept. Sass had guessed that they fell asleep in the middle of playing last night at around no later than two o'clock.

She sat up and glanced to her right to see her alarm clock on her nightstand. It read: 6:30. She sighed and fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She lightly closed her eyes and tried to recall her dream. Faint memories of warlocks and raveners popped into her head but nothing about them. And for some reason Simon appeared in her head.

_ Simon. _Her mind eased at the thought of only other friend. He knew everything there was to know about Shadowhunters and the Downworlders. Simon knew so much about the other world and it's beings that he started working at Taki's Diner, a food joint that is popular with the Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

_I'm supposed to see Simon today!_ Sass' mind jumped and she tossed off the covers. She quietly rushed to her dresser and pulled out some clothes. She grabbed a bra, skinny jeans, and a white t-shirt that said "Vans" on it in a magenta like hue.

She applied her usual face and eye makeup when she made her way into the bathroom. Then she curled her dark brown hair and pulled back the front pieces of her casually curled brown locks with a white bow that matched her t-shirt. As quietly as she could she slipped from the bathroom and tip-toed down the hallway to the stairs.

"Where are you going?" A deep, groggy voice asked from behind her.

Sass turned around to see Jace standing outside of his bedroom in a plain white t-shirt and navy blue pajama pants. He rubbed his eyes like a tired toddler and yawned.

"I'm going into town to meet up with a friend," She replied, trying to be as quiet as she could.

Jace yawned again and nodded, "Is she cute?"

Sass rolled her eyes and said, "Well if you think boys are cute then yeah, I suppose,"

Jace shrugged and yawned again. Sarah leaned against the staircase railing and she said, "Did you sleep at all last night?" He looked up and smirked, even though she could tell that he really was tired.

"Not as much beauty sleep as I would have liked, but it was it is. Oh and by the way, I like your hair,"

"Thank you, I didn't think of you as the charming type," She smiled and jammed her hands in her pockets.

He laughed and said, "A lot of people don't think of me as the asshole type either but trust me, I'm both," And with that, he shut himself inside the bathroom and that was that.

Sass liked that he was both charming and a bit of a jerk but she didn't really have time for guys. The only boy she had time for was Simon, and she wanted to keep it that way. She returned to the stairs and made her way down them as quiet as a mouse. She headed for the kitchen first, nabbing a juice box from the fridge and storing it in her black backpack for later.

She slipped her backpack on her shoulders and almost left the entryway before stopping by the armory to restock on weapons. She passed through a couple rooms and hallways before finding herself inside the armory. She went through a couple drawers before finding the steles and seraph blades.

Once she had everything that she needed, she leaned against a counter and gazed at the room around her. The walls were dark green and on the dark granite counter tops were many cardboard boxes filled with various items. All the unpacked boxes reminded her of a vague memory.

Sarah and her parents moved to New Jersey when she was about six years old. She didn't remember much of it considering she didn't get to live there for more than a month or so.

Her parents had business in Idris and left a couple weeks after moving in. Hodge volunteered to babysit her while they were away because he was a close family friend. When Hodge told her what happened to her mother and father, he was there to take care of her and comfort her. It was traumatizing for a six year old to have to deal with the death of her only family and to know that they were never coming back. Sarah loved them very much.

"You're thinking of them, aren't you?" Hodge asked from the doorway.

Sarah snapped back into reality. She felt a shimmering tear crawling down her cheek. She wiped it away hastily and turned to him, subtly nodding in response to his question.

He closed his eyes and inhaled loudly. When he reopened them, he exhaled and calmly spoke, "They loved you very much kiddo," A smile of compassion and pity stretched across his face. His dark eyes were filled with sorrow.

"I know I just really miss them," She said as she choked on the last few words of her sentence.

Hodge pulled her close to him and hugged her. The warmth from his body and the sound of his heartbeat was comforting to her and she appreciated it greatly. He kissed the top of her head and pushed her back in front of him.

"So what are you doing today?" He said with a smile, his teeth seemed to be the only bright things in the room.

"I was going to go see Simon while he worked," She said as she sniffled.

"Well, we don't want your makeup to be all messed up when you go to see your little friend, now do we?" He said with a smile.

"No," She said with a smile and a happy giggle.

"Alright go get em' tiger," He said and Sass went to leave.

She stopped in the doorway of the armory and turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to speak. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. She closed it again and thought about what she was going to say.

"Why do you think that someone would send raveners after Jaz and I?"

Her question seemed to have troubled Hodge because he did not answer right away. He stood for a moment and thought to himself. The truth was that he didn't know. Sarah and Jasmine were big-hearted people that wouldn't hurt a fly unless necessary.

"I'm not sure but I wouldn't dwell on it too much. It might ruin your date," He said with a smile.

Sass laughed, shook her head playfully, and walked back down the hallway.

Sarah had intended on going to visit Simon while he was working at Taki's and then they would go back to his house once he got off work at twelve o'clock because he worked a half day. But somehow her plans got all messed up and Jaz, Alec, and Jace decided to tag along.

They all sat on the subway train car that would take them to 3rd Street, which was a block away from Taki's Diner.

"What's the plan for today?" Jaz asked Sass as she nudged her elbow.

"I was going to see Simon today," Sass said with a smug smile.

"Ooo, like a date?" Jaz asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Sarah laughed and she rolled her eyes. She didn't think of meeting up with Simon as a date because they didn't think of each other like that. At least she didn't think they did. The thought of Simon and her ever dating just seemed weird. They had always been just friends.

Sarah looked up to see Jace staring at her. She calmly looked away, pretending that she didn't notice but when she looked back, he was still staring. When he knew that he had gotten her attention he winked at her and smirked.

He looked away as he saw a group of teenage girls get on the train to go to school. Jace winked at a short and curvy girl that was wearing a tight, black leather mini skirt and a sparkling crop-top. She fluttered her glued on eyelashes and wiggled her fingertips at him in a flirtatious manner.

Her friends nudged her forward and whispered for her to go sit with him. They urged her once more before she strutted over to him. She stopped right in front of him and slid onto his lap and instantly began playing with his golden curls.

Sass scoffed. He was such an ass. He did tell her that but she didn't expect for him to be _that_ kind of an ass. The girl whispered to him and they smiled and giggled together. What was really upsetting about this girl was that she was wearing such skimpy clothing to school! She understood that being comfortable with your body and such was important but seriously, her skirt didn't come close to reaching her fingertips and her shirt looked like a bando. She rolled her eyes and tried not to dwell on it too much.

The train stopped again at 3rd St. The girl stood up to let him off the train, but not before she gave him a smooch on the cheek and writing her digits on his palm in blue ink.

"Call me sometime so we can kick it," She said with a wink and bit her lip.

"Oh trust me, I will," He said before bidding her goodbye.

"It's a shame you have herpes though," Sass said as she shook her head as though she was sad, but she really was just tormenting him.

Alec and Jasmine about choked on their own saliva. They tried to stifle their laughs but it was so hard to when Sass had just ruined any possible action Jace would've gotten from the girl. The girl looked as if she had just taken a bite of a sour lemon, she was so disgusted with Jace. She said, "AS IF!" She turned from him, scowling angrily.

Before the train doors closed the four teenagers hopped off the subway, almost collapsing with laughter, everyone except for Jace of course. Jace was calm, cool, and collected on the outside but Sass knew that he was fuming on the inside.

"Why on Earth did you do that?" He asked.

"Because! I'm not just going to let you wink at every girl you see and lead them on. You weren't even actually going to call that poor girl, were you?" Sass said as she laughed about him being upset.

"Probably not but I think that you were just jealous," He said with a sneer.

"God, you're such an ass,"

"I'm a charming ass though. And for the record, I may not be a virgin but I do not have any diseases, that would be gross," He said with a laugh.

Everyone laughed at his statement because it was hard to believe that he didn't. He just gave off the "I'm a major player" vibe and not to get too involved with him.

When they arrived at Taki's Diner, Simon was the first person that Sarah saw. He was already on break and sitting at a booth by himself, sipping a cup of black coffee.

"Hey Sassy, I've missed you," Simon said as he sprung from his seat and hugged Sass.

Simon was a head taller than Sass and thin. His dark hair was a mess and his glasses were slightly askew. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. He turned his head and laid his cheek on the top of her head and they stood there for a moment.

"I missed you too," She said as she pulled away from him.

"I see that you brought some new friends. Hello Jaz," Simon said as he waved to her.

"Hey there Simon, I see that you've grown and it's only been a week or two," Jaz said with a smile.

"Mundanes," He said with a shrug.

"Simon, this is Alec and this is Jace. They are both staying at the Institute temporarily with their sister, Isabelle," Sass said as she gestured to the boys as she said their names.

They all slid into the booth after shaking hands. The five teens ordered breakfast and enjoyed it while Sass and Simon talked about ordinary things like video games, new movies and music, and new gaming consoles. They talked about all sorts of things until they finished eating.

Simon became fidgety and restless. Sass could tell that something was bothering him. Simon looked up from his lap and their eyes met. His were blue, bluer than Alec's which was impressive. Besides the beautiful color Sass could tell that something was bothering him, something of worth. It wasn't about a girlfriend or about his band not being able to think of a name, it was something big. Sass was about to ask what was wrong when a familiar voice spoke from beside their table.

"Sass, Jaz, Simon, good to see you my old friends,"

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this second chapter. I'm trying to update it everyday but I might not be able to stick with that because of school and such. If you have any questions/concerns, don't be afraid to comment. OR if you want to tell me what you liked/loved/hated about this chapter, don't be afraid to tell me why. I'm enjoying this so far and I can't wait till I get to write more. Later dudes - Lu **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Sass, Jaz, Simon, good to see you my old friends,"

Sarah turned to see an average sized man in a sky-blue suit. _Magnus Bane. _He was an old friend of Sass and a very good warlock. It was difficult for Sass to think of Magnus as a friend though. It was because he was much older than her. He looked as if he was twenty-three but in reality, he was around seven-hundred-and-fifty. The reason of his immortality was, well, he's a warlock.

Magnus stood beside the table, smiling at everyone but he kept his yellow cats eyes on Alec. Sarah got the feeling that Magnus was attracted to Alec, which wasn't surprising because Bane was openly gay. It was difficult to say about Alec though.

"Magnus Bane! Just the person I wanted to see! Grab a chair and join us, old friend," Sass said as she gestured to the chair behind him.

Magnus turned and took the chair from the square, wooden table behind himself. He slid the chair to the edge of the booth that the young Shadowhunters were sitting at and he sat down, crossing his legs.

"What have you been up to?" Sass asks as she scoots her glass of cola away from the edge of the table.

"Same old, same old. I see patients during the day and then party the night away," He says with a mischievous smile.

Sass could've sworn that his smile was directed towards Alec. Out of the corner of her left eye she could see that Alec was propping his chin up with his palm and he was smiling at Magnus. His teeth were aligned almost perfectly and were a milky white color. Alec was clearly interested in Magnus and his statement.

"That's great, glad you're still having fun," Sass mindlessly said as she was still staring at Alec's joyous expression.

"So why am I 'just the person you wanted to see'? Do you fancy warlocks or something?" He said as he batted his long, dark lashes at Alec.

Alec's smile was widening so much that Sass thought the corners of his mouth would tear apart. Sass looked back to Magnus. He was clearly not really interested in what she had to say but she was going to say it anyway. His attention was completely wrapped around Alec and his beautiful smile.

"Hah, no you're just the person I wanted to see because I have some questions for you," Sarah said as she tucked her long dark hair behind her ear, trying to avoid the turtle earring that was pinned into the cartilage near the top of her ear.

"Shoot," Magnus said as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms tightly across his sky-blue torso.

"Would you happen to know anything about a warlock sending raveners after us?" Sarah said as she gazed at the glistening gold eye shadow on his lids that was complimenting his yellow eyes.

Magnus sat quietly for a moment with a dark, perfectly shaped eyebrow raised and his lips scrunched together like a duck, thinking about Sass' troubling predicament.

Sass looked at him, lost in thought of his spunky attire. His hair was the color of charred wood and it was gelled fashionably to the side with blue product. In certain light the blue and glitter could be seen in his thick, beautiful hair. In his ears he had several gold, shimmering studs and hoops. The yellow light hanging above the table shined on the rings, making them dance and bounce in the light. Around his neck he had several silver and golden necklaces that fell against his chest as he slouched.

"Now that you mention it, I have heard rumors about Nephilim being targeted. I think that a warlock is looking for an old item, something that was lost," Magnus finally said, still lost in thought.

The young Shadowhunters and Simon were baffled. If the warlocks or a warlock had lost something, it must be pretty important if they are sending raveners after Nephilim. Another question budded in their minds. Why would they think that Sass and Jaz have this item? They never intentionally messed with the warlocks.

"What is it that they lost?" Simon asked as he leaned forward, investing his attention into Magnus.

Magnus looked from Alec to Simon and said, "The Summoning Stone. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's pretty much a little white stone that allows a person to contact the dimension where all the nasty, demon buggers are. It's not really something you want to mess with. It's not really something that us warlocks want anyone but us messing with,"

The teenagers were transfixed. No wonder the warlocks were attacking Nephilims. A Summoning Stone was currently lost and it could potentially fall into the wrong hands and could be used against them. Who knows what destruction could be brought upon them. It was a miracle that the Earth wasn't already being infested with those hellish beasts and they all felt it was now their responsibility to keep it that way.

"Why me and Sass though?" Jaz asked dazed.

"I'm not entirely sure hun. I suppose I can look into though. Maybe whoever is looking for it is just checking everyone, or trying to at least," Magnus said with a limp shrug.

Sarah still had questions swimming around in her mind but from the information that Magnus already shared, she guessed that it was all he knew. She knew that she could ask Hodge if she knew anything about the Summoning Stone. He would most likely have several extensive textbooks on the subject.

Sass took a deep breath and closed her eyes, isolating herself from the world and leaving her alone with her own thoughts.

Page Break

Sass fell onto her soft bed, her blankets puffed up as the air from her fall hit them. She had just gotten home from being at Simon's house all day watching what they always did; anime. She was exhausted from walking back to the Institute. She quickly sent a text to Simon saying that she made it home in one piece.

She closed her eyes and dreamt of a beautiful forest. One that she would love to live in or at least visit. She dreamt of the thousands of healthy, tall trees that would surround a pond. A pond that was so peaceful that when you looked into it you'd think it was a mirror. She dreamt of staring into the pond and seeing a reflection of her mother.

She dreamt of the gleeful songbirds chirping pleasant melodies that echoed through the tranquil forest. She dreamt of how the tepid sunrays would feel against her tanned skin. She smiled at the wonderful setting that was floating in her mind…

Sarah sat up in complete darkness. She felt as if it was swallowing her whole. She felt around herself, trying to find her phone so she could use it as a flashlight. It didn't even feel like she was in her room. The whole situation seemed eerie. She couldn't see out the window that was in her bedroom. She sat unmoving in silence, processing what was happening.

"Little Sass, before we go we wanted to give you a present. It's called a witchlight stone. It will give you light when you're in darkness," Her mother's voice sounded around her, echoing, replaying the memory.

"Mommy?" Sass asked as she frantically looked around for her mother.

A bluish-white light protruded from her pocket. It's pure illumination burned her eyes. She slid her hand into her jeans pocket, retrieving the dazzling, smooth stone. Sass held it up in front of her eyes, examining it. Something about it was different. She pulled it closer and recognized the delicate bone structure of her mother's face. The face was pained.

"Help me! Please!" was screamed through the darkness in her mother's voice.

Sarah jumped and the screeching stone slipped from her grip. Sarah tried to fling her arm out to catch it but it felt like she was swimming in cold syrup. She watched as the stone fell. It hit the ground and millions of brilliant shards scattered throughout the darkness.

She fell to the ground and tried to gather the shards as quick as she could, still feeling slow and restrained, almost in slow motion. More screams pierced her ears. She tried to cover her ears and she curled into the fetal position. Tears started to crawl down her cheeks. It felt as if someone was stuffing her ear drums full of jagged, shards of glass. She tried to block out her mother's blood curdling screams. She watched helplessly as the beautiful pieces of stone melded into the darkness.

"No! Stop!" She screamed as she tried to reach for the pieces.

"My precious, little Sass. Why did you do this to me? What did I do? I gave you everything!" Her mother's voice screamed again.

Sass screamed over and over and she laid there in a puddle of her own tears and anger. Her mother's voice played the last message over and over again. Everytime Sass heard it she screamed because her words felt like daggers and they were stabbing her in ribs and twisting in her flesh.

"I'm sorry Mommy," Sass choked on her words and hugged herself.

Sass awoke and her pillow, shirt, and cheeks were soaked with tears. She wiped the moisture from her face and wiped it on her dry comforter. Looking down at herself she realized that she fell asleep in jeans and t-shirt from the previous day. Groggily she looked out her bedroom window and could see the orange glow from the streetlight that was outside the neighboring house. Sarah's stomach growled.

Sass took a deep breath and scooted off her bed. As she stood up her head pounded and felt light as a feather at the same time. She stumbled over to her dresser and weakly tugged her skinny jeans away from her thighs. She pulled up her lavender underwear a bit as they slightly slid down with her jeans. Sass slowly pulled her t-shirt over head and let it fall to the ground.

Sass pulled a light blue oversized sweater from her drawers and put it on quickly as the cold nipped at her bare skin. She twisted her long brown hair up into a messy bun. She wiggled her chilled toes and decided that she would put on a pair of socks. Her only long socks were her black, nylon, thigh-high socks.

After she pulled on her socks she tiptoed out into the hallway. She noiselessly walked down the marble staircase down to the main level of the Institute. Sass found herself in the hallway and slipped into the kitchen.

Her slick socks glided over the linoleum floor and she slid into the refrigerator. She yanked on the suctioned door and snagged a peach from the bottom drawer, rinsing it off in the cool tap water and took a bite as she sat on the granite countertop.

Sass was so emotionally exhausted from her strangely vivid and horrid dream about her mother. She stopped chewing the squishy hunk of peach in her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly and leaned over her legs, her stomach churning from the thought of her dream. Her mother's voice was echoing in her mind.

She spit the peach piece out in the stainless-steel sink and threw the rest of the fruit angrily in with it. She put her face in her hands and muffled her exasperated scream. Her muscles tensed in her body as the memories replayed in her mind.

_Why did you do this to me? _

"Don't be stupid! This isn't your fault!" She shouted to herself.

She wiped away the large, heated tears that were streaming down her face. She felt all the boiling anger and sorrow in her chest slowly diffusing as every tear fell. It didn't matter how many times she cried over her parent's death, she was still just sad. Crying didn't even make her feel better. It just made her angry.

The kitchen door quietly swung open and Jace stepped in the kitchen. He was in a crew-neck, plain, white t-shirt and dark green pajama pants.

"Oh God, don't look at me," Sass said as she tugged the edge of her long sweater down to her mid thigh section where the top of her socks were and she hastily wiped away the soggy tears on her pink cheeks.

"Please. It's okay. I don't mind, I promise," he said as he approached the counter that she was sitting on.

"I know _you _don't," She sighed as she used her overly long knitted sleeve to wipe the newly falling tears from her eyes.

"Hah, I actually meant that you were crying. I'm not perverted all the time," Jace said with a laugh and a weak smile.

Sass smiled as she stared down at her legs. They were bare except for the long socks. The socks didn't really count as pants though. She sniffled and crossed her feet and began swinging them back and forth.

"So are you going to tell me what's making you upset or did I walk down that enormous staircase for nothing?" Jace asked as he shifted to the counter she was on and he leaned against the edge, looking up to her slightly.

She giggled as she wiped away another tear. She lightly set her hands into her lap and stared down at them. Sass said, almost in a whisper, "I dreamt of my mother,". She choked on the word mother and pained tears swelled in her eyes. Her throat ached as she tried to keep the tears from falling. Her body felt sore.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It was just a dream, it wasn't real," Jace said in a calming tone.

"If it wasn't real why does it hurt so bad?" Sass whispered as tears started to drop from her eyes.

Jace looked at Sarah blankly as she cried. She put her face into her hands and she continued to cry. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to say something but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Tell me Jace? Why does it continue to hurt so bad after all these years? Why does it still hurt like a bitch? I couldn't do anything to stop it but man, I wish I could have," She whispered angrily, her words faded as her salty tears began to slip into her mouth.

"I just wish I could've seen them one last time," She mumbled mindlessly as she tried desperately to mop up her despairing tears.

In one swift motion he pushed himself off of the edge of the counter and slid her off the countertop and into his arms. She wrapped her smooth, thin legs around his waist and buried her face into his neck. His muscular arms supported her body weight and she softly cried on his neck and shoulder. He carefully rocked left and right, trying his best to somehow soothe her.

After a while of silence, Sass lifted her head from Jace's body and she said, "thank you" softly. She held onto Jace with her right arm as she wiped her cheeks with her left hand. When her face was dry and she was no longer teary-eyed, she lightly pressed her lips against Jace's cheekbone.

His cheek became warm and just as quickly as she decided to kiss him, she pulled away. The blood had rushed to his cheeks, turning them crimson. The corners of his mouth twitched and he slightly grinned. He moved back towards the counter and carefully set her light body back onto the smooth, granite surface.

"Are you better?" Jace asked as he stood up straight, his hand on her thigh.

"Yes, thank you," She said as she tucked a small strand of dark hair, that had fallen from her bun, behind her ear.

"Good, are you tired?" Jace asked as he rubbed her leg with his thumb.

"Yeah," Sass said as she slid off the counter.

Sass was pretty tall yet she still had to look up to Jace a bit. She wasn't used to anyone being taller than her. She was already taller than Jaz, Hodge, and Simon. Sass didn't really know anyone else.

Sass began walking back out of the kitchen, Jace following close behind. When they got to the top of the staircase Sarah stopped in front of her room. Jace continued towards his room. Before he went inside his room Sass said, "Jace, is it okay if I sleep in your room with you?"

Jace turned and looked her, his head cocked to the side. He leaned against the door frame of his bedroom and said, "And all this time I thought you didn't like me,"

Sass rolled her eyes and met Jace at the end of the hallway outside his bedroom. She rolled her eyes as he smirked down at her. She scoffed and said, "I just don't want to sleep by myself,"

"Yes of course you can. I was just giving you a hard time," He said as he gestured for her to go inside his room.

Jace's room was clean and neat. It was a boring room, it was identical to the others and plain. He had nothing lying around his room, everything was put away neatly either in the closet or in the dresser drawers. Jace's room was the complete opposite of Sass'. Her room looked like it was hit by a tornado compared to his.

Sass crawled onto the bed and continued crawling until she was on the side of the bed furthest away from the door. She slid her legs underneath the covers. She sat up and waited for Jace to join her.

He switched off the light and shut the door before he hopped into bed. As he slid his legs under the covers he glanced over at Sass.

"I can see your underwear," He said as he fell back into the pillows.

"Oh no. Now you know I'm wearing underwear. I'm so embarrassed," Sass said in a monotone voice to show that she really did not care.

Jace started laughing and she snuggled up on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her back as she shifted and moved her leg onto his. He kissed the top of her head and said, "I'll see you tomorrow," and that was the last thing that she remembered.

**Hey dudes! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. The holidays were very frantic and I was extremely busy. I'll probably be able to write more because there aren't any upcoming holidays that are too crazy. Anyway, how were the holidays for you guys? I hope they were great. So anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope that you guys didn't see any typos/mistakes. If you liked/loved/hated it tell me why in a review. Also you guys can tell me what I can do to improve. I'm still open for suggestions and questions. Enjoy! -Lulu **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Jace and Sass were awakened by a sudden banging on the bedroom door. They had slept together since two o'clock that morning. It was around noon when Isabelle had woken them up with her frantic knocking.

"Jace? Jace, are you in there?" She called from the hallway.

Jace made an annoyed moan sound and yelled back, "Yeah,". Sass was facing the window of his bedroom and was nearly asleep but she was still consciously listening to Isabelle. Jace was lying beside her and his arm was wrapped around her abdomen. Their bodies fit together nicely and they both thought that they were technically spooning.

Isabelle swung the door open and began yapping about something that she couldn't find. Jace groaned and sat up in the bed so that he could face her. He was not really in the mood to deal with Isabelle and her lost items.

"Have you seen it? I just can't remember where I last had it. I-oh.. Um I'm sorry," Isabelle said as soon as she realized that Sarah was laying beside Jace. "I didn't know that she was in here. Does Hodge know that she's here? Jace, you know you can't just bring girls in here!"

Isabelle was now yelling at Jace about apparently sneaking a girl into the Institute. Little did she know that Sass was actually living there. But of course she didn't know, she had never met Sarah before. Sarah could tell that she was Isabelle though, she was told about her and her striking features and Jaz's description was on point. She was beautiful, her long black hair was thick and luscious, and her eyes were a brilliant blue.

"I would hope that Hodge knew I was here, considering I've lived here for several years," Sass said as she sat up in the bed.

Isabelle stopped talking and her eyes widened. At that moment, Isabelle realized that the girl next to Jace was indeed Sarah Donnelly. Isabelle cleared her throat and said, "Hi, um, you must be Sarah," It was truly an awkward situation. Isabelle was just now meeting a new companion that also happened to be in the same bed with her adopted brother.

Sass looked at Jace with the corner of her eye and could see that he was mindlessly staring at Isabelle. Sass would've thought he would be annoyed or at least embarrassed, but no he was completely emotionless. To Sass it seemed like he was in another world. It was true. He was thinking about other things despite the odd situation before him. He was remembering the moments of that had occurred earlier that day. He silently relived them.

"Jace," Isabelle said again but it was the first time that Jace had actually heard her.

He looked up to his sister who was standing at the end of the bed and waited for her to continue her assertion. Her jet-black hair was intertwined, creating a long braid that bounced against her chest as she spoke. Her makeup was all done and she looked absolutely flawless and a bit intimidating. Her large blue eyes shined and sparkled as the sunshine from the window poured in and hit them. The silvery eyeshadow that was plastered onto her eyelids glistened in the sunlight.

"Jace, I'm going to leave now. I'll ask Alec where my book is," She said as she started towards the door, the tassels on the bottom of her cream colored crop-top swung around as she strutted.

"Izzy, I love you to death but I really would like you to change your shirt. Boys will be all over you," Jace said monotonously.

"That's the point," She winked and with that she left, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Sass pulled the rest of her hair out of her really messy bun and let it fall across her shoulders and over her chest and back. She tossed the warm blankets off of her body and slid off the bed and began towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Jace asked as he swiftly hopped out of the bed.

"I'm just going to put some clothes on," She said as she pulled her socks up that were slowly sliding down her legs.

"Oh, want help?" He teased with a grin.

"Don't be an ass," She rolled her eyes and left the room.

She showered and got ready for what left of the day she had, before heading downstairs for lunch. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down besides Alec and Izzy at the little round table in the corner of the kitchen. They were having a casual conversation about weapons and battle equipment.

"What are you guys doing today?" Sass asked as she finished chewing a bite of Chex.

"Not really sure yet. We're thinking about exploring the city. It's our first time being in New York," Izzy said as she plucked a dark strand of hair from her shirt.

Sarah nodded as she shoveled in another bite of cereal. The three sat in silence for several minutes until Isabelle decided to speak again. She stared down at her lap and said, "You guys didn't, uh, you know, have, uh, sex? Right?"

Sass choked on the cereal in her mouth and tried desperately not to laugh and spit her food everywhere. She finished her mouthful of cereal and then replied, "Um, no. I might come off as slutty but trust me, I'm everything but that,"

Alec started laughing and tried to muffle it with a sip from his white mug. Isabelle nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, I was just checking,"

Jace walked into the kitchen and went directly to the fridge. He pulled it open and stood silently in front of it, gazing at the selections. After a while he shrugged and grabbed an apple from the bottom drawer.

"Come join us manwhore," Sass said as she patted the chair next to her.

"I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or as an insult," He said as he plopped down beside her.

"Both I guess," She said as she leaned back in her chair.

Jace took a few bites out of his stunning, ruby colored apple before he said, "You know, you're a lot nicer when you're distressed,"

He smirked at Sass and she smirked back but internally Sass was actually really embarrassed. She didn't want Alec or Isabelle to know that she was upset and crying last night. It was bad enough that Jace knew. She also didn't want them to think that she was a big crier. It was frowned upon by Shadowhunters to show weakness and cry. She hardly ever cried but when she did, it was within reason. At least she thought she was within reason.

Page Break

The rest of the day was pretty normal. Sarah, Jasmine, and Jace had stayed in all day and played video games. Alec and Isabelle had decided that they were tired of feeling cooped up and they venture out into the city.

"I think I'm done for right now," Sass said as she set her controller to the side.

She could only handle so much of one game. Playing Smash Bros. Melee for three hours was too much. She got bored of beating the crap out of her friends over and over. She needed a break and she thought it would be a good time to research the Summoning Stone.

She found herself in the library of the Institute. It was a beautiful room. Grand wooden bookcases lined the walls. They were so tall that you would need a sliding ladder to climb up to reach the books on the top shelves.

Sass was strolling through the library, looking for a section that would most likely have a book on the Summoning Stone. She stopped at the end of the library and gazed at the wall. Hanging on it was a painting of the most important historical event for her race. It is a masterpiece depicting Jonathan Shadowhunter and the angel Raziel. Raziel is levitating over Lake Lyn, listening to Jonathan Shadowhunter speaking to him. It was at that time that Raziel created the Nephilim race by giving some of his angelic blood to Jonathan.

Raziel is a beautiful angel. He was wrapped in white, satin cloth and on his head he wore a golden headdress. It was truly a beautiful painting. Gold light was gleaming from his body and his hair and skin were accented with gold. The magnificent gold light reminded her of Jace and his golden features.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hodge said from behind her.

"Yes, it never fails to impress me," Sass said as she turned to face Hodge.

His black, feathered companion, Hugo, was perched upon his shoulder. Hodge was wearing his usual outfit: A black suit and red tie. If it weren't for Hodge's black, swirling runes, people might mistake him for an accountant.

"So what is it that you are seeking?" Hodge asked as he leaned against his mahogany desk, folding his arms tightly over his chest.

"I was wondering if you had any information on the Summoning Stone?" She answered.

Hodge stiffened and stood up straight, glaring towards Sass. He almost looked annoyed that she knew that the Summoning Stone was such a thing. He was hesitant about answering but when he did, he didn't seem as irate as she thought he was.

"How do you know about the Summoning Stone?"

"Magnus Bane told me that there is a someone looking for it. He thinks it's a warlock," She responded.

"That doesn't make much sense to me. Is he sure that a _warlock_ is looking for it?" Hodge asked as he rubbed his chin.

Sass shrugged. She didn't know hardly anything about the situation, she just knew that she should look into it. Hodge began pacing around the library, deep in thought. It didn't make much sense to him that a warlock wanted to find the Summoning Stone. To his knowledge, the warlocks wanted it destroyed or at least lost. Hodge came to the conclusion that someone was definitely forcing or paying a warlock to send raveners after Nephilim.

"Oh and yes I should have a book or two in that back corner relating to the Summoning Stone,"

Sass grabbed two of the bulkiest and heaviest books she has ever seen from that back corner, but she was so happy to have found information relating to the Summoning Stone that she didn't care that each book was twenty pounds.

Sass' cell phone rang as she began marching up the massive staircase. She promptly set the books down on one of the white, marble steps, and answered her phone.

"Hello?" Isabelle's voice surprised Sarah.

"Isabelle? How'd you get my number?" Sass asked, taken aback.

"Oh yeah, Jasmine gave it to me. Anyway, Alec ditched me for some cute warlock so I'm stranded out here and I have no idea how to get back," Isabelle said.

"What warlock?" Sass asked with a smile.

"I don't know, like Magnet Bait or something weird. So can you help me?" Isabelle answered.

Sass began laughing hysterically. Isabelle meant that Alec had run off with Magnus Bane but didn't quite get his name right. Sass knew exactly who she was talking about, before she even messed up his name. She knew that Magnus had eyes for Alec and she was happy for them.

"What's so funny?" Isabelle retorted.

"Nothing. Okay where are you know? I'm coming to find you," Sass snickered.

"Um… Wilson! I'm on South Wilson right now. Ok?"

"Okay," and with that Sass hung up and continued up the stairs.

When she got to her bedroom she saw Jaz laying on her stomach on her bed, munching on a bag of chips and Jace was sitting on the edge of the bed playing Paper Mario. Sass dropped the two-ton books on her bed. She then slid her burgundy vans.

"Where you going, troublemaker?" Jace asked as he paused his game.

"Going to go find your sister so that I can bring her back. She's lost," Sass said as she fixed her jean shorts and her white, oversized sweater.

"What? Alec has an amazing sense of direction and he almost never gets lost," Jace said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sass started brushing out her hair and let it fall messily around her. She smiled when she heard him talking about Alec. She laughed and then said, "According to your sister, he ran off with 'Magnets Bait',"

"What? You mean Magnus? The gay warlock?" Jace was baffled.

"Hah, yes Magnus. I have to go find her now, because she was ditched. I don't like that she's out in the city by herself, at night," Sass said as she grabbed her stele and seraph blade from her dresser.

"Me neither. Mind if I join?" Jace asked as he followed Sass out of her bedroom.

"Oh! Can I come?" Jaz asked.

Jace and Jaz slid on their shoes and followed Sass out of the Institute, grabbing a couple of daggers on the way out. Sass' plan was just to take the subway because it would take longer to get to South Wilson by car with traffic and all that. They caught the train going west and then hopped on another train going south. When they made it up to ground level they walked a couple of blocks and then finally found South Wilson Street.

"Do you see her?" Sass asked as she looked around the street.

She expected to see Isabelle sitting on a bench or on the sidewalk, waiting for them to come and get her but she was no where in sight. Jace started to walk along the sidewalk and quickly broke into a run, frantically looking for his sister. He stopped at the end of the street and yelled back to Sass, "Call her,"

Sass pulled out her phone and dialed her number and waited for her to pick up. After several rings Jaz looked to Jace and said, "I'm sure she's around here somewhere. There's a club a street or two over. She could have wandered over there," Jace nodded and then looked to Sass.

"Let's run over to that club really quick and we'll see if she's there. Jaz, you continue to call Isabelle. I don't like how this is ending up," Sass said as she handed her cell phone to Jaz.

Jaz continued to dial Isabelle's number as she followed behind Jace and Sass who were darting down the street. Isabelle said that she would be there and it didn't seem likely that she would just leave. Knowing Isabelle, Jace thought it could be possible that she met a boy or something.

"Do you think she was kidnapped or something?" Jaz panted.

"Not yet," Jace said as the turned down the street.

The bass from the club could be heard from the end of the street. Colored smoke was seeping from the doorway of the club. A large bouncer stood outside, checking people off the list as they walked in. They stopped in their tracks as he started yelling at a boy because he wasn't on the list.

"Glamour," Sass whispered.

They moved out of site and then glamoured themselves. That was one of the spectacular things about being Nephilim. You could hide yourself so that you couldn't be seen by mundanes. They walked invisibly along the street and walked right past the six-foot-six-inch tall bouncer.

They un-glamoured themselves as soon as they were hidden by the crowd of drunk dancers. Jace ran ahead of them and to the left and started searching that part of the club.

"Stay with me," Sass said to Jaz and they both searched around the club.

They weaved in out between the people that were intoxicated and dancing weird. Every person that they pushed past smelled strongly of alcohol and most were soaked in sweat from dancing for hours. The lighting in the club was blue and their eyes took a beating from the constant flashing of the strobe light. It also didn't help that there was colored smoke floating around that smelled like burning plastic. Despite the smell of alcohol and burning plastic, there was a strong sweet aroma coming from the massive bar on the right side of the club. It must have been the liquors and such, wafting around.

Out of the corner of Jaz's eye she saw a boy leaning against the counter of the bar. He was tall and muscular, he had the same body type as Jace. Except he had dark curls that swirled around his head like runes. She couldn't see his face from that far away but from the rest of him, he was definitely attractive.

"Aw," Jaz groaned as she stopped to stare at the boy.

"What?" Sass said excitedly because she thought that it was related somehow to Izzy.

"He's already talking to that girl," Jaz sighed.

Sass turned to look at the attractive boy. At first she thought it was Alec Lightwood but he was much too tall and muscular. She looked over to find the girl he was talking to. She swore that her heart stopped beating. She stopped mid breath.

"Jaz! _That girl, _is Isabelle! Good work, you dork!" Sass said as she dashed away from the crowd and towards the bar.

Jaz looked over her shoulder to see Jace staring at her confusedly. She waved him over and then ran after Sarah. The thick smoke was stuffing up her sinuses and it was hard to breathe in the thick air. She felt her lungs screaming in her chest, telling her to get the heck out of there.

The three teenagers ran up to Isabelle and the boy. Sass wanted to scream at her for scaring the crap out of them but before Isabelle even noticed them, Sass noticed that she had an almost empty drink and she was holding her arm close to her chest as if she was in pain.

"Isabelle? Are you alright?" Sass asked as they quickly ran up to her.

"What? Oh thank Raziel you're here. I need an _iratze_ quick. Damn raveners beat the hell out of me," She slurred her words together but it was enough that Sass knew what she was talking about.

Sass quickly pulled her stele from her shorts. She carefully took Isabelle's arm that she was cradling away from her body so that she could examine it. A bone in her wrist was almost stabbing through her skin. Her wrist was bruised violet and it had swelled double in size. Sass lightly pressed the tip of her stele onto Izzy's skin and began to sketch the healing rune into her wrist. Isabelle's body tensed up and she tried not to cry out pain. Her wounds began to heal but she was still heavily intoxicated.

"I'm sorry. She begged me not to take her back to her home. She said that she had a friend coming," The boy said from behind her.

"No it's okay. We're just glad that she's okay. Thank you, Child of the Moon," Sass with a smile.

The boy was taken aback at first but then he took a deep breath and said, "Nephilim," He smiled. It was hard for Sarah to see what the boy really looked like. All she could see was that he had a perfect nose. It was perfectly proportioned to his face.

"So what happened to her?" Sass tried to say over the loud music.

"Let's talk outside, I don't think you'll be able to hear me very well," He yelled over the music.

Even that was hard for Sarah to hear. Sass and Jaz happily followed the boy outside the club. Jace carried Isabelle out like a princess. He thought it would just be easier to carry his sister rather than deal with her drunk stumbling. He didn't have to deal with her terrible balance but he still had to listen to her make stupid comments.

"You know what, Jacey? I think Pluto should be a planet. Like it's not really fair that he's not considered a planet just because he's tiny," Isabelle said with several hiccups mixed into her statement.

"Izzy, Pluto is a planet and it's in our solar system." Jace replied, trying not to laugh and encourage her.

"Jacey, we have to throw a party because Pluto becoming a planet is just so awesome," Isabelle slurred but she was totally serious about throwing a party for a planet. Little did she know that Pluto has been a planet for a while. They finally made it outside.

"Okay, ma'am, now that you can actually hear me, I'll explain what happened,"

**Hey guys! I actually updated today! Crazy, right? Anyway, I'm glad that this chapter was much easier than the last chapter to write. I feel like I write better when I listen to my favorite songs. I don't know, maybe it just inspires me. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. As usual, comment what you liked/loved/hated about this chapter or even comment ways I can improve. I'm always happy to be corrected and helped out. I'd appreciate any advice or ideas too! Well, enjoy dudes! - Lulu**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The four Shadowhunters and the werewolf stood outside of the noisy club. Outside of the building was quieter than the actual club and the air outdoors was actually breathable. Sass listened as the boy began to speak.

"I accidentally had bumped into her while she was running past me frantically. She was bleeding so my instinct was to stop her and ask what was up. When I did she grabbed me and pulled me into an alley and we hid behind one of the apartment buildings. I could tell that she was a Nephilim by all the runes on her arms and such, so I guessed that she was in trouble with demons or something. Out of no where several raveners came from nowhere and proceeded to attack us. I fended them off for as long as I could but then we escaped into the club,"

"More raveners? Damn warlocks," Jace hissed as he set his sister down on the sidewalk beside himself.

Isabelle stumbled a little bit and decided that the only way that she could stand was to lean on her brother. She slouched against his shoulder and hiccuped every so often.

"Well, uh," Sass started but she had no idea what his name was. She stared blankly at the boy.

"Tyler, Tyler Holton," He said, adding onto her sentence with a crooked smile.

"Well,Tyler, thank you for helping her out. Oh, and mind if I ask how much you gave her to drink?" Sass asked as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Isabelle who was softly humming a song.

"Oh yeah, that wasn't my idea," He said as he ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair and shook his head.

Tyler Holton was a little shorter than Jace and just as muscular. Although he didn't seem as sarcastic as Jace. His eyes were the color of fresh, spring grass and his eyelashes were long. Despite the fact that he was a werewolf, he seemed very shy and meek.

"I need to get her back to the Institute. She is drooling all over me," Jace said as he desperately tried to wipe away the saliva as quick as possible without getting too much on his hands.

"Institute? So you guys are training?" Tyler replied to Jace.

"Not really training. We're like exchange students," Jace answered.

Sass sensed that Jace was annoyed with Tyler and the whole situation. Truthfully, he was. He was irritated that a werewolf, pretty boy was involved with his sister. She always had to fall in love with the Downworlders. Not once had she had a crush on their own race. Not that he was racist, it was just frowned upon for a Nephilim to be in a relationship with a Downworlder. He was also annoyed that his intoxicated sister had just drooled on his favorite sweatshirt.

"Well, we should go before Izzy drools anymore on him. Thank you very much Tyler, it is greatly appreciated," Sass said after a moment of silence.

"Bye wolf boy," Isabelle slurred from the club's outer wall.

"Bye Isabelle," Tyler blushed as he smiled sheepishly and a small dimple appeared from the corner of his mouth.

When they had finally arrived back at the Institute, Jace tucked his sister into her bed and closed her bedroom door. He made his way to the end of the hallway and stopped just before Sass' room and listened.

"He was just so cute. I know I'll never have a chance though. I mean he met Isabelle," He heard Jasmine sigh.

"Yes he was a total cutie. I kind of agree with you though, Isabelle is really pretty but that doesn't mean you aren't! You have just as much of a chance as she does," Jace heard Sass say, followed by the tapping of her button smashing on her gamecube controller.

Jace felt his heart sink a little bit. Hearing Sass say that that Tyler boy was attractive was saddening. He was getting attached to Sass. He thought that she was gorgeous and that she had an amazing personality. He just hoped that she felt the same about him.

"Quit eavesdropping," Sass called as she paused her game.

She was in the middle of a boss fight but she heard the sound of his footsteps disappear as he neared her bedroom door. She waited patiently until Jace opened the door and joined them.

"I just didn't want to barge into your room if you guys were swooning over a werewolf pretty-boy," Jace rolled his eyes as he plopped onto the edge of the bed besides Sass.

"Aw, someone's jealous of the nice boy that we met today," Sass said in a mocking baby tone to Jasmine.

"Aw that's so cute," Jasmine said back in the same voice.

Jace shook his head and laughed. He wasn't sure what was more embarrassing, being caught eavesdropping or being mocked for feeling slightly jealous. He of course didn't let them know that he was embarrassed or jealous. He kept it cool and laughed along with them.

"Want to play? I'm going to do some research," Sass asked as she offered the black controller to her friend.

He shook his head politely. His blonde curls bounced around has his head swung back and forth. Jace's hair had a glamourous glaze of shine that danced around when the ceiling light shone on it. His eyes sparkled as they made eye contact.

"Would you like me to help you research?" Jace asked.

Sass shrugged as she turned the television and console off and headed to her bed. She scooted all the way back to the headboard and sat up straight, looking at him.

"If you want, you can. Doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'd willingly do," She said as she pulled one of the large, leather-bound books into her lap.

"You'd be surprised," Jace said as he joined her at the top of the bed.

They looked through the textbooks and soaked up all the information they could about the Summoning Stone, occasionally sharing the information with one another. Jaz laid quietly at the end of the bed, her eyes glued to her cell phone.

"Who are you texting?" Sass asked as she looked up from her book.

"Simon, but I'm also just switching back between my Instagram and Tumblr," Jaz replied, still looking at her phone.

"Ah. How's Simon?" Sass asked as she looked back to her book and continued scanning the old thick pages.

The pages were a dark, sandy color. They were so old and worn that it looked as if they were soaked in tea. The unique thing about the books they were reading was that they were both hand written. They had guessed that they were written by the same person considering the handwriting was quite similar.

"Eh, pretty good. Doing the usual, watching anime," Jaz responded.

"Little nerd. Oh well tell him that I said hi," Sass replied.

Jaz nodded and started tapping on the phone's keyboard. Her dark locks swirled around her head as she laid sleepily at the end of Sarah's bed. She blinked slowly at her bright phone screen and yawned every so often. Before too long, she decided that she would go to bed before she fell asleep at the end of Sass' bed.

"Ugh, what does this say?" Jace asked with a sigh as he showed Sass a piece of smeared text in his book.

"It says that you're a nerd," She said, still examining her own book.

"Thank you Sass, that was very insightful," He said sarcastically as he slumped back down to where he was sitting before.

After a while of nothing but silence and the turning of the thick, stained pages, they both spoke at the same time about two completely different topics.

"Did you know-" Jace started off as Sass simultaneously said, "Were you really jealous of Tyler?" Both of them sat awkwardly for a moment, waiting for one another to continue their statement or to answer.

"No, I wasn't jealous," Jace finally said as he continued to read.

Sass didn't respond. She didn't really believe him and from his tone she could tell that it was a tense subject so she didn't bring it up again. She was almost positive that he was annoyed that she and Jaz both had said that the werewolf the met that day, was attractive.

"Anyway, listen to this. 'The stone was an item created for a warlock who was deprived of his powers. He was betrayed by a fellow warlock and his powers and his immortality were stolen from him. A group of unknown warlocks spent countless years trying to craft the stone so that their companion could once again be normal. The warlock only had a few weeks to use the stone before he died in his home in the mountains on the outskirts of Idris.'" Jace said.

"What happened to the jerk warlock?" Sass asked as she tossed her enormous book down by her feet.

She leaned over Jace and began trying to find where he had found the useful information that he had just read to her. He laughed and pointed to the paragraph that he read aloud to her. Quickly she began reading the passage.

"It doesn't say," Jace said before she got to the end of the paragraph.

"We have to find out what happened to all those warlocks and who they were," Sass said as she jumped out of bed and headed for her closet.

She went to slide her shoes back on and stopped. If she was going to go talk to Magnus, she would need to be in party apparel. There was no way that Magnus was not having a party on a Friday night because he was hanging out with Alec. Magnus loved hosting parties for everyone. She began rummaging through her closet, looking for a dress that she could wear to the party. She pulled out a baby blue dress and grabbed a pair of white ballet flats from the bottom of her closet.

"Whoa there tiger, don't you think it's a little late to play dress up?" Jace asked as he closed the heavy book.

Sass rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "I'm going to go talk to Magnus. Scram, I need to change,"

"I think I'm better off staying here," Jace said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Sass hissed as she grabbed her dress and shoes and ran out the door to the bathroom.

From the bathroom she could hear Jace snickering. She threw her casual clothes off and pulled her periwinkle dress on over her head. The dress came to her mid thigh area and there was a heart cut out on the back of the dress. Her tan skin peeked out in the back. She slid on her white flats and fixed her hair. She twirled pieces of her straight hair back with a blue bow that matched her dress.

"You know that dress is a bit mousey for a party," Jace said as he met her in the hallway, wearing the same clothes he was wearing before; a white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans.

"Mousey? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as she pushed past him and went to her room.

She pulled a knife holster out of the top drawer in her dresser and proceeded to latch it on to her leg where it would be hidden underneath her dress. She slid her seraph blade into the holder and pulled her dress down over it.

"I'm not saying that you don't look pretty, I'm saying that you don't look like a- Whoa man," Jace said, stopping abruptly as he saw the black holster on her leg.

"Oh did my knife scare you?" Sass asked as she stood up straight with a smirk.

Jace laughed and said, "Remind me to not ever mess with you,"

Sass smiled as she pulled a necklace from a box on her dresser and hooked it around her neck. It was about ten thirty but she was determined to talk to Magnus right then. She was excited. She finally had a bit of information on the stone and why it was created. She thought that Magnus had to know who those warlocks were. She would've thought that it would have been a significant historical event for the warlocks.

"I take it you're coming with?" Sass asked as she grabbed her black coat from the hook beside the Institute's elevator.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Jace replied as he shoved several weapons into his sweatshirt pocket, pants pocket, and into his waistband.

"That's very poetic. Oh also, thank you," Sarah said as they both crammed into the elevator.

As they were descending to the church, Jace leaned back against the elevator and looked at Sass. She was examining the parabatai rune on her wrist. It matched the parabatai rune that was on Jaz's left wrist, symbolizing their never ending friendship and trust.

Jace watched her as she admired the black swirling mark. He really noticed her beauty then. The way her chestnut hair fell around her, messily and beautifully. He smiled at her, admiring her.

"Why'd you say thank you?" Jace said, snapping back into reality.

Sass looked over to him, he was leaning in the corner of the rickety, ancient elevator. He was smiling, with his perfectly straight teeth. It was the first ever real smile that she had seen him make.

"You said I looked pretty earlier," She said with a bashful grin.

Jace tossed his head back and laughed. When he faced her again, the elevator stopped at the church. They fled from the cramped pod and he called after her, "I don't usually compliment people so you should feel special,"

"Oh whatever. I've seen you flirt with cute girls," Sass laughed as she pushed open the church doors and sauntered out onto the sidewalk.

"Who? Oh yeah that girl from the train. Right, yes I remember her. You told her I had herpes," He chuckled.

Sass burst into laughter at the memory. The girl's face was priceless. She was absolutely disgusted that Jace thought that he could "kick it" with her and have STDs. Sass felt bad that Jace was leading on that poor girl. So what did she do? Ruin his chances of even getting to talk to her.

"Yeah, her. You flirted with her nonstop,"

They turned down the street and headed into the city. They would take the subway towards the north and then have to walk the rest of the way to Magnus' magnificent party house.

"Yeah, I mean she was cute but I never called her pretty. I pretty much said that she was 'hot' and called her 'baby', you know all those sappy names that girls love to be called. Pretty is like a sacred word in my book," Jace said quietly.

"Aw that's sweet and do girls really like to be called 'baby'?" Sass asked as they trotted down the stairs to the subway.

They slipped onto a train going north before the doors closed. They sat at the back of the train and continued their conversation, where no one could hear them.

"I think it's a mundie thing, honestly," Jace said as he leaned forward, propping his head up with his hands under his chin, and his elbows standing up on his legs.

Sass rubbed Jace's back with her right hand and said, "Jace, I'm going to let you know now, if you ever call me 'baby' I will not hesitate to slit your wrists,"

"That feels good, please don't stop. And I wouldn't even think about calling you that cheesy name, it's absolutely ridiculous," Jace smiled.

They were running up to the door of Magnus' house. Sarah patiently waited for someone to answer the door after she had knocked several times. After five minutes of no answer, she decided to ring the doorbell. They both could hear the booming music from outside and weren't looking forward to having to listen to it. They both really enjoyed the quiet.

"Let's just go in," Jace said as he reached for the door knob.

The door swung open and Magnus was standing in the doorway, smiling brilliantly. Jace stood up straight, shocked at how quickly the door opened. Magnus was wearing the usual glittery eye makeup and the usual rings in his ears. He was wearing a white oxford shirt that was unbuttoned all the way to his bellybutton. Sass didn't think there was even a reason to have the rest of the shirt buttoned because it clearly wasn't covering his chest. Although she didn't really mind considering Magnus was in shape and had a seemingly perfect body.

"Sarah, golden boy, I was expecting you guys," Magnus said.

"Is that just my name now?" Jace bantered.

Magnus winked and then moved to the side, letting them inside. There were tons of people in his open living room, bopping to the music and sipping neon colored drinks. The stench of alcohol hit them in a wave. Sass coughed as the smell of vodka burned the back of her throat.

Magnus wrapped around and popped up in front of them. He motioned for them to follow him. He began walking to the back of his home. Magnus led them into a back room. He pushed the door open and inside Alec was sitting in a plush, floral-print armchair.

"Jace, Sarah, uh, hello," Alec said, nervously sitting up straight.

Sass smiled at him and nodded subtly at him. He smiled and then sat back in his chair. They all knew he was gay, she thought that he just needed to be assured that they all did know. It was hard for Alec. He was Nephilim and he was gay. It wasn't typical to meet a gay Shadowhunter. Isabelle and Jace loved him all the same but it was definitely something that was frowned upon within the Nephilim community. It wasn't even a normal thing within the mundanes. There were still people out there who for some reason weren't okay with gays. Sass shook away the thought of it as Magnus began to speak.

"So, what brings you here? Have you come to take you beloved brother from me?" Magnus asked as he gracefully swung his arm in front of him, motioning to the chairs around the sitting room.

"No, we thought he would be better off here than back at the Institute. We're here to ask more about the stone," Jace said as he sat down in a matching floral chair next to Alec.

Magnus sat across from the three Nephilim and chuckled. He leaned back and crossed his legs. His pant legs rose up a little, revealing his sun kissed skin that was sprinkled with golden and silver body glitter.

"You Nephilim, always so impatient. You know, we only spoke yesterday about this Summoning Stone, I haven't done much research," Magnus said as he wiggled the thick gold band that was wrapped around his wrist.

"I didn't expect you to have done any research. Anyhow, we need to know if you know of the group of warlocks that created the stone, or anything about the two warlocks who got into the fight," Jace snapped, still irritated about Magnus' comment on how impatient the Nephilim are.

Magnus sat for a moment, quietly. He hesitated and then answered, "I told you that I hadn't done any research,"

"Okay, thank you for your time," Jace retorted sarcastically and with that he stormed out of the room.

Sass whispered that she was sorry to Magnus on the way out as she thanked him and then ran out of the room, trying to catch up to Jace. She knew that he was ready to explode. She ran up to her hot-headed companion and yanked him to the side of the hallway.

"What the hell Jace?" She hissed at him.

"He's clearly hiding something," He growled as he pulled away from her grip and continued to the door.

"You're not exactly the best at asking for information! You're just" She began to say but was quickly interrupted.

"I'm just what?" Jace snapped.

They were now standing outside of Magnus' house. The sky was as clear as it had ever been and it was chilly. Sass wrapped her arms tightly around her and stood in front of Jace, glaring angrily at him. She was irritated that he practically demanded information from Magnus and she was annoyed about how he stormed out of the sitting room like a child

"You're just an ass," She scowled at him as she pushed past him.

She began to storm off, being followed by Jace. He was still irritated but more than anything he was irritated with himself. He was upset that he wasn't being told everything that he wanted to be told and he was upset that he didn't keep his head.

"Sarah, please, I'm sorry," Jace called after her as he stopped walking down the sidewalk behind her.

Sass stopped and turned around. She waited for Jace to speak again but he just stood there, looking like a puppy that she had just kicked in the ribs. She glared back at him and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," He repeated.

"Look, Jace, I know that Magnus was lying. Did you think I didn't know? I've known him for a long time. You could have just screwed things up between Magnus and I. I don't think you did, but you need to learn that the way to survive around here is to have connections and be on good terms with everybody," She tried not to yell but her anger was starting to boil over.

It felt like there was a fire in her chest and it felt like Jace was just adding logs to it, making it bigger and feeding it. She knew that he felt bad but she just felt as though she had to yell at him for that. After she had said that, Jace stood there emotionless. She knew that he was annoyed that she was right.

"Let's just go home, it's cold out here," Sass said as she turned around.

Jace caught up to her and was walking quickly along side her. They walked back in the direction of the subway in silence.

"Sass," Jace whispered as he grabbed her arm and stopped them on the sidewalk, on the outskirts of the city.

"What?" She asked. It was about fifteen minutes after their little feud.

Jace whipped his head to the side, in the direction of the bushes that were out front of a large apartment building. There was something rummaging around in the big patch of foliage. Sass looked around, trying to see what was in the bush.

"Jace, we're on the outskirts of the city, I'm sure that it's just a stray cat or something, don't be such a worry wart," Sass said as she continued walking.

"What did you call me?" Jace chortled.

"I don't know, mundie stuff," Sass shrugged.

Two raveners ran from the bush, causing a commotion of crunching leaves and snapping twigs. Jace spun around and pulled out a seraph blade. Under his breath he whispered a name and his seraph blade grew in size and for a moment, it glowed blue.

Sass pulled her seraph blade from her leg holster and whispered the name, her seraph blade stretched, much like Jace's but it didn't glow. A ravener was already lunging at Jace and the other was charging Sass. It ran at her, hoping to trample her with it's muscular insect-like legs but she dodged it's slimy body by somersaulting out of the way.

She ran over to Jace in attempt to help him but in mid run, the ravener jumped onto her back, making her face plant into the sidewalk. She squirmed from it's tight grasp and managed to flip onto her back. It's stinger was dangling over face, the tip almost touching her nose.

"Do it!" She screamed at the ravener.

It pulled it's head back when it heard her scream. When it registered what she said it leaned in close and screeched in her face. She knew that these raveners were sent to capture the Nephilim, alive. If the ravener stabbed her in the face with it's needle-like tail, it would kill her within minutes. If the ravener killed her, it would definitely go through hell with it's master.

Sass wiggled her right arm free and sucker punched the ravener in throat. It gasped for air and started to jerk as it tried to recover. She grabbed the leg of the ravener that was pressed into her chest, pinning her to the ground, with one quick jerk to the right, she snapped it like a twig. Ungodly gasping screams came from the vile beast. Sass took advantage of the situation and wriggled free from the demon.

She ran from the demon and scooped the seraph blade from the ground and ran back at the demon, slicing into it's stunned throat. The neon liquid that runs in it's veins splurged from it's body and it sprayed onto her black jacket.

She threw off her jacket, which was soaked in green acid, before it could touch her skin. In the distance she heard more raveners screeching. Sass ran over to help Jace, who was having a semi-clean battle with the demon, unlike her.

The demon was missing a middle leg and was trying it's best to get around with it gone. With great force it slammed it's grotesque stinger down on the ground beside Jace, making an indent in the concrete sidewalk. The beast used one of it's legs and swung it at the speed of light at Jace's knees. Jace fell to the ground and promptly began to crawl away from the beast.

The demon charged at him and was about to pluck him from the ground with it's grimy legs when Sass ran in from the side and went to slice off it's front legs. She cut into one of it's legs but it smacked the blade from her grasp, sending it skidding down the street. It picked her up from the sidewalk and held her there for a moment, just so Jace could see that he had grabbed her.

Sass screamed at Jace to run but he didn't. He used the lamp post near him to help support himself as he tried to stand up. He had a bruised cut on his cheek that was drizzling blood all down his face and shirt.

The ravener screamed and with one quick motion, tossed Sass to the side like an empty soda can. She fell against the pavement on the street, hard. She moaned as she attempted to roll over and sit up but it was no use. The wind was temporarily knocked out of her and she had landed on the right side of her body. Shooting pains went up and down the entire right half of her body like lightning bolts.

Jace stood emotionless, propped up by the lamp post, staring at the demon, staring into it's soulless body. The ravener lunged at Jace. Sass buried her face into her shoulder so that she didn't have to watch. All she heard was the sound of flesh being torn. She felt like vomiting but what would that do? Make it harder for her to escape, that's for sure.

She looked up to see Jace, slumped against the lamp post with a ravener sprawled in the street, with a dagger stabbed through it's throat. Sass wished that she could jump up and down, she was so happy but clearly that wouldn't be happening. She smiled and took a deep breath.

The faint sound of raveners that she had heard earlier was louder now, and she had guessed that they would be close by. She looked to see Jace trying his hardest to get his stele from his pocket. Sass wanted to scream. The one time that she left home without her stele, the one time she needed it most.

"Jace, there's more I think," Sass said as she tried to sit up.

"Please don't move, I'm coming to you," Jace said as he finished doodling a rune on himself.

He stretched his legs out and winced as he did. He then began to stumble over to Sass who was sitting in the middle of the street. He slumped down to the ground next to her and pulled her right arm into his lap. He held her arm steady and tried his best to draw an _iratze_ rune into her forearm. His arm was a little shaky but it worked all the same.

"Thank you," She said as she felt the pain starting to fade away.

"Those stray cats were on steroids," Jace laughed as he got to his feet.

Sass laughed and joined him. They looked around and saw no other raveners but they both knew that they were coming. The only thing they could do was flee, because fighting more raveners didn't seem like a good option.

Jace gathered their weapons and met her back in the street. He handed her her seraph blade and they started off down the street. The raveners had already vanished back to their home dimension. Jace stumbled beside her, his knees still weak from being fractured.

"Do you need help walking?" Jace asked as he bumped into her.

"I should ask you the same thing," Sass responded as she looked to his knees.

"I'm okay for now. I can't promise that I won't need a sponge bath later," Jace sneered.

"You always crack jokes at the worst times, you know that?" Sass laughed to ease the mood.

"Hey, who said I was joking?" Jace said as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to his side.

Sass just shook her head and laughed. She was no longer mad at him for exploding at Magnus' mainly because Jace did save her life, after she saved his of course, well, sort of. She couldn't stay mad at him for long anyway. His sarcastic comments and corny jokes always made her laugh, no matter how stupid they were.

"I hear them. We need to get to the city now. They won't attack us if we're in a crowd," Jace said as he started walking quickly, pulling Sass close to him.

They hurried along a street that would take them directly into the city and at this time of night, on a Friday, there would definitely be crowds. A ravener jumped the fence that was in a back alley and was now chasing after the two Nephilim. Another joined the first ravener, and third one soon joined.

"Jace, there's three. We have to hurry, or we have to fight them," Sass said as she tried to run, but her right side was still in pain.

They jogged as fast as their aching bodies would allow them, but it wasn't fast enough. The raveners were right behind them and the anxiety alone was enough to make Sass crumple. She didn't of course, but it may have if the raveners didn't attack.

One ravener grabbed Sass by her feet, sending the top half of her body downward. She smacked the side of her head on the pavement, knocking her slightly unconscious. The ravener held her upside down over the street and her limp body swung around. She moaned as she tried to see what was happening.

From out of nowhere, a wolf lunged onto the back of the ravener holding Sass. It clamped onto the neck of the demon and tore as hard as it could. The demon shook away the wolf as it screamed bloody murder. It dropped Sass and she was conviently caught by Jace. She moaned as her head whipped back. All the abrupt movement was making her even more nauseous.

"Stay with me Sass!" Jace yelled as he ran from the raveners as fast as he could.

She groaned back but didn't really understand what he had said. A ravener chased them down and screeched after them. Jace rolled Sass off his arms, sending her flopping onto the pavement and turned around, yielding his seraph blade and started to fight the ravener.

With quick, devastating blows, one by one he sliced into the beast's legs. Jace tried his best to dodge the aimless swings from the demon. The demon swung wildly in Jace's direction, hitting him in the nose. Blood sprayed from his nose and dripped into his mouth and all over his clothes.

Jace pulled his arm back and launched the seraph blade into the forehead of the monster. It stopped in it's tracks, unsure of what hit it. It swayed left and right once or twice and in one big heap, it fell to the asphalt. Jace looked over to see the wolf battling the two other raveners.

Jace ran over to aid the werewolf, in hopes of defeating the last two quickly. The ravener hit the werewolf, knocking it to the ground as it yelped. Jace charged the ravener and cut into it's front legs, almost clean off.

The werewolf got back up to it's feet and started to help beat on the ravener that had just hit him. While they were attacking the ravener, slashing into it's mosquito-like body that's covered in tar-like grime, and biting into it's hide, the last ravener snuck away and went right for Sass. She was still laying halfway on the curb of the sidewalk and halfway onto the cold asphalt of the street.

The ravener scooped her up in it's only front leg and began to flee with her. Her long body was limp in the beast's grasp, she was unmoving, not even groaning anymore. Her body bounced and jiggled with every stride of the ravener. Her mother's necklace broke from around her neck, falling to pavement.

Jace turned to see the ravener escaping with his friend. He sprinted from the battle and over to the ravener. The ravener was much faster than Jace but Jace pushed himself over his limit. He was not about to let some demon escape with Sarah. He ran as hard as he could, trying to catch up with the ravener.

He was right on the ravener's heels when it unexpectedly turned the corner. Jace was caught off guard but still hurried behind them. Jace stopped in his tracks as he came around the corner, seeing nothing but a purplish blue flash of the brightest light he had ever seen.

And they were gone.

**Hey dudes! Sorry I'm late updating but I've been busy with school and stuff all day. Geez, school is such a drag sometimes. Anyway, give me a review on how I did on this chapter. Mention anything that you liked/loved/hated or comment if you have questions/suggestions/concerns. I'm open for suggestions or any criticism. I'm always hoping to improve. Anyhow, I hope you dudes enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Later - Lu :) **


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